Temp Home For Betta In My Community Tank

[jschlosser]

First off, the bully gourami is in isolation until I can cart his butt back to PetSmart (we have a good one where I haven't gotten a sick fish in 8 years).

My daughter and grandson will be living with us for about a year while dad is away at the police academy. My grandson LOVES my fish and drags me downstairs to just sit and watch them whenever they come to visit. I told him that after they come live with us that he and I would go buy him a fish of his very own. I was thinking that if I got him a betta, he could take it with him to his new home since a betta setup doesn't require the drama (or parental committment) of a full-blown aquarium. I have two NICE female blue gouramis, a zebra danio and a spotted raphael (I need to update my signature and take off the ones the guy in isolation killed, and him, too while I am at it). He should do well in there. With his presence in mind, though, what kinds of fish can I consider restocking my tank with without endangering the betta?

 

[Honeythorn]

since a betta setup doesn't require the drama (or parental committment) of a full-blown aquarium

Wrong.

A betta tank needs to be set up in exactly the same way as any other tropical fishtank. They need heat and filtration just like any gourami. They also need a cycled filter like any other newly set up tank.

Can your grandson do water changes, service the filter and do tank maintenence? If the answer is no, then parental supervision is absolutely needed.

To be honest , the best thing to do would be to get your grandson a 5 gallon tank, a filter, a heater, gravel and some silk plants. Do not set it up. In fact keep the whole thing a surprise and hide the tank ect.

Take the filter, put it in your big tank and leave it running in there while your family stay with you. Do the usual maintenence on it like any other filter for that year.

When they move to their new house, you could present your grandson with a tank of his own, set it up for him, and take the cycled filter for that tank out of yours, and put it into his. With the filter cycled and having matured for a year , you can get him a betta the same day as setting up, and the fish will not have to suffer a fish in cycle or be subjected to the ammonia and nitrite spikes that go with such a process. Happy fish, happy child.

This will be far safer for a betta than trying to keep him in your tank with fish that may not be compatible.

 

[jschlosser]

Of course it needs to be set up and maintained, it is just that a 5 gallon with a couple of fish is not a 70 gallon with a huge set of personalities to balance (not to mention water to schlep when doing changes) although the chemistry and temp are certainly more stable in a larger tank. I wouldn't have a smaller tank - too little bang for the work.

His parents will be taking care of it; not a big problem - dad is a salt-water guy. I just promised him fish when he comes to live with us. Might go ahead and get a jump on it and get him the 5 right off the bat and let him help me pick out my new fish. I have a safe place to put it. He is 3 and will be with us until he is 5. I have been keeping fish on my own since I was 5 (or at least I thought I was - too bad my dad is gone now so I can't ask him).

 

[JustKia]

In all honesty the smaller the tank the greater the maintenance needs - sounds daft but I learned that the hard way.
I started with my betta in a 35L (about 8Gal) with 5 pygmy corys and cloned my community filter for it. That tank needed to be water changed twice a week.
The greater the water volume the more stable it is an thus the forgiving it is if you make small mistakes.